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Central Government/Public Sector | Kerala - India | PID: 183197
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The expert committee constituted by district collector to resolve the logjam at Panathura, which had impeded the state government’s ambitious plan to revamp Parvathy Puthanar, has recommended restoration of the canal along the area which had been levelled in the past
The deadlock at Panathura had halted the project to re-establish navigational channel along Parvathy Puthanar and waterway connecting Kovalam to Akkulam. For the project to make a headway, the canal will have to cut through the road, the proposal for which has led to local protests
The residents have been suggesting a parallel path connecting Koonamthuruthu and Chenthilakkari for the canal and according to them cutting through the road to restore the canal would affect religious festivities of Panathura temple
The committee headed by B G Sreedevi, chief scientist of Natpac, assessed five options and has recommended two alternatives for the consideration of state government. Before recommending two options, the committee had considered various aspects like the type of bridge, approach road on both sides, connectivity to bypass, and nature of construction to make it accident free
The first option is to cut through the road and restore the canal and construct a movable bridge across it, to allow passage of boats and barges through the canal. The movable bridge is proposed near to the Panathura Devi Temple. Another option is to construct a reinforced concrete (RCC) bridge across the canal, near the Panathura Masjid, and a foot overbridge may be constructed for pedestrians
The committee found that other options were not viable. In case of an alternative route, six acres have to be acquired and if approach road is provided it would result in an elevated road denying access to around seven houses. This would mean these houses will have to be additionally acquired. Going by the recommendation of the expert committee, only one house needs to be acquired
The committee also noted that restoring an old canal would not require compliance with environmental norms whereas establishing a new channel in another site would necessitate all environmental sanctions which would be time consuming
Going by the present plan, the canal could be connected covering 160 metres and acquiring 1.5 acres as most of the land is government puramboke
Acquisition will not cost much either as only two houses figure in the original path of the canal. The committee was also keen on making minimum disturbance to the residents
Establishing navigational channel from Kovalam to Akkulam forms part of a major project to revamp inland waterways transport which will run up to Kottapuram, Thrissur
Once the channel is established till Akkulam, it would be connected to Kollam from where the channel will form part of national waterway. This is being done to enhance transport of goods, tourism facilities and ferry service along Parvathy Puthanar
The committee members had already studied old Google maps to assess the geographical variations and vulnerability of the spot to sea erosion. It was found that no major issues had been reported since 2008
| Updated on: 04 - Dec - 2018
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